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Slave Pits of Targa, Part 5
This is the fith part of the 7-part event on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2010's TV series). Plot In the Slave Pits of Targa once again, He-Man frees Lizard Man from his chains and tells him and Garn what he has learned from Balina. Garn at first appears unmoved, but he soon becomes angry. “She offered you Targa itself, and you turned her away? What kind of man are you?” “The kind who wants to know who he truly is, Garn. Or do you think only chains make a slave?” “You are chained to the past,” says Garn angrily. “What is lost cannot be recovered, and you’ve let a chance to save yourself—and others—slip from your grasp in pursuit of it.” “Perhaps it is not too late to accept,” Lizard Man suggests. “She says she does not care about keeping slaves. Perhaps she means what she says and will let you end the slavery. Perhaps then you can still ask Lodar for his help?” He-Man considers the suggestion, but then one of Lodar’s Kobolds comes to him and informs him in a fell, crackling voice, that Lodar is ready to see him. Meanwhile, Teela and the Oberon set out with Dakkon to the peak of the mystical Point Dread. As she leaves the city, Teela is stopped by Thales, who whispers to her. “In case the Enforcers refuse, it is important that someone who speaks for Dakkon knows his full story. He is not my true son. He is the son of the elder of the two brothers, who fore sought his life as an Enforcer to live among us for a time. He married my sister Rhea, but unlike him, she was mortal and became ill. She died bearing her child, and consumed by grief, and guild for failing to protect her as an Enforcer, Dakkon’s father returned to his place among the Cosmos and left Dakkon in my care. Not even Dakkon knows this secret I am entrusting with you, and he must not know until his father chooses the time.” Teela promises to keep the secret. On the way to the mountain peak, Sala-Man-Dor admits he did not expect so much perseverance from the humans. “My people regenerate their severed limbs and our wounds heal faster than yours. All this made me believe you were just as afraid of the outside and unknown as we are. I am pleased to say I was wrong about you.” Suddenly a blood-chilling war cry comes from the cliffs above and they look to see the murderous Kobolds crawling down toward them. Above the Kobolds are Kobra Kahn and Tarrak. “Traitor,” cries Rana, but Tarrak clucks his tongue. “I could be persuaded to spare you, princess Rana. My allies in Targa have promised me the kingdom, and more for my allegiance. Immortality itself awaits us when they find the legendary Spring beneath Targa.” “Fool! The spring beneath Targa never existed!” “So your father wants us to believe. He’d rather play sycophant to the Enforcers and their narrow dogma than make himself and his people truly great! But Geldor and Balina have discovered evidence that the spring is real. They’re digging for it even now! They are the future, Rana.” “And what are they promising your Snake Men friends,” Teela demands, but Tarrak ignores her and demands their surrender. Teela and Rana are about to surrender when a Targan air ship rises up from the valley. It levies it’s energy weapons at the Kobolds and sends them showering down the cliff. Tarrak and Kahn curse in vain and flee as the air ship hovers over the path. A debarking ramp extends, and out steps Princess Maran. She runs to Dakkon, tears of joy in her eyes. But Dakkon does not recognize her. Teela and Rana explain what has happened to her, and Maran reveals that she too has learned of the plot in Targa. “My father’s illness began when he started to question Balina and Geldor’s interest in the catacombs beneath Targa. When I learned Dakkon had disappeared, I chose to listen in on them. They’re planning to take over all Eternia with the soldiers they are breeding. They’re using a strange substance they’ve found in the catacombs. It is not the Liquid of Life, but has transformed many of our gladiators into monsters.” “They must have found a pool of the Enemy’s blood,” says Rana finally. “They’ve confused it with the Liquid of Life! They think if they dig they’ll find more!” Teela nods, recalling again that He-Man might also have amnesia and realizing that the Enforcers may well be their only hope. High above the valley, Teela and the others reach the mysterious Point Dread. Once there they find a hidden laboratory, where they find a huge holographic display. As they enter, the lights grow bright and the form of Zeelar appears inside. Rana smiles. “It is the younger brother…Oberon!” “Oberon?” Teela repeats in surprise. “But this is Zeelar! If he is Oberon, then his brother Targa must have been—“ “Zodak,” says a commanding voice from above. Zodak himself appears, surrounded in mystical light. “You have done well, my children. You return to us together. Oberon, Targa, and Repton—united as allies.” “But, the Reptons weren’t part of the old legend,” says Teela. “But they were, Teela. They were the creatures of the valley. They were forever changed by the Liquid of Life when its drops fell on this land.” All around Zodak, holographic representations of other Enforcers appear. “We have waited for these sects to cooperate for thousands of years. Now at last it has come to be.” “But it’s not,” Teela objects, “Geldor and Balina have taken over Targa. They’re breeding an army with the blood of the Enemy! The Snake Men are helping them and He-Man’s memory is gone just like Dakkon’s! We need your help!” Zodak looks to the other Enforcers, and after a brief hesitation says “No, Teela. This is not my task.” “But Targa will be destroyed without your help,” cries Maran. “Even now Geldor and Balina are plotting to kill my father and overrun Eternia with the help of Lodar and his slaves!” “Lodar?” The Enforcers say together, and look to each other in shock. “This cannot be. Lodar was killed thousands of years ago by Zodac. Lodar was the Enforcer who fell to the side of Evil and came here to Eternia. His evil is match by only one.” “And,” says the Primary Enforcer, calming the others with his solemn voice, “He-Man must face him alone.” Back in Targa, He-Man enters the inner sanctum of Lodar, the Slave Master of Targa. “Come in, brave warrior,” says a cold voice from the darkness. He-Man sees the figure sitting in a chair, eyes burning like fire. “I have waited a long time to meet you, heir of Grayskull. Yes, I know who you are, even if you do not. I am Lodar, and I need your help to stop the evil that has ensnared all of Eternia…”